Priced at $295, or £175, the spring/summer 2014 sandals -- which take inspiration from the Italian fashion house's best-selling 'Rockstud' heels -- will be available from January 15, exclusive to Valentino boutiques.

Ladies can choose from neon pink and yellow pairs, or more muted grey and baby pink, all on a camouflage background.

Brazilian flip flop brand, Havaianas, has collaborated with Valentino to create a collection of luxury rubber sandals. Priced at $280, or £175, the spring/summer 2014 sandals will be available from January

The men's collection, priced at
$245, or £155, first debuted on
Valentino's spring/summer 2014 runway.

Their sophisticated
palette of purple, dark green, taupe and navy also comes in a crocodile skin version for $895, or £530.

Fans of the flip flop brand have taken to Twitter to express their exciment at the unexpected collaboration. 'The ultimate flip flop,' one woman wrote. 'So stylish!' tweeted another.

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Initially the workaday staples of the
Brazilian poor, Havaianas have transcended both their modest origins and
the country's borders to become an object of desire the world over,
sold at Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus and coveted by Hollywood
A-listers, European royals and suburban princesses from Seattle to
Seoul.

Not only have they
become all but de rigueur in poolside Miami and beachfront Cancun,
Havaianas now have a way of cropping up where you least expect them.

And designer collaborations have certainly become a part of their allure. To date, Matthew Williamson, Missoni and Sass & Bide have all collaborated with Havaianas.

In 2011, 210 million pairs of Havaianas were sold worldwide. Even with 15
percent of total production exported to some 80 countries, enough of the
sandals were sold in 2011 for nearly every man, woman and child in
Brazil.

Ladies can choose from neon pink and yellow pairs, or more muted grey and baby pink, all on a camouflage background; while men have a sophisticated palette of purple, dark green, taupe and navy

Legend has it
that Havaianas' simple wishbone between-the-toe design was inspired by
Japanese 'zori' sandals, the traditional straw-bottomed footwear worn by
geishas.

'It's true
that some executives from (parent company) Alpargatas took a trip to
Japan before the launch,' in 1962, said Rui Porto, a longtime company
executive who now works as a media consultant for the brand.

'But the origins of this style of sandal date back to the dawn of time, to roughly the same era as the invention of the wheel.

'In fact, that's why there's no patent on them,' Porto said.

Still,
patent or not, Havaianas has kept the formula behind its squishy rubber
soles a tightly guarded secret. Since most of its direct competitors
make cheaper, plastic-soled flip-flops, Havaianas' aerated rubber soles
are seen as key to the brand's success and their manufacturing process
is kept under strict wraps.

Beyond acknowledging they're made
from a mixture of domestic and imported rubber that shrinks and hardens
with extended wear, Porto declined to provide any details about the
secret soles.

Initially the workaday staples of the
Brazilian poor with their white soles and colorful straps, Havaianas have transcended both their modest origins and
the country's borders to become an object of desire the world over

In the
beginning, Havaianas came in a Spartan palette, their white soles paired
with either sky blue, black or yellow straps. Sold in popular street
markets, they quickly became such a basic for the poor here that they
were included on the list of basic necessities such as rice and beans
that the government used to calculate cost-of-living increases.

'Havaianas were almost synonymous
with poverty,' said Porto. 'They were sold like a commodity, with no
investment in design or marketing or innovation, and the whole business
model hinged upon selling increasing numbers of pairs in order to drive
production costs down.'

By
the early 1990s, with domestic competitors beginning to eat away at
Havaianas' market share, label executives made a bold, 180-degree shift
in strategy. Their plan, aimed at rebranding Havaianas as a fashion
accessory, would prove so wildly successful that it has since become a
business school case study in marketing.

Suddenly,
middle- and upper-class Brazilians who either wouldn't have been caught
dead in Havaianas or donned them exclusively for the short trek from
their beachfront apartments to the sand, were snatching them up in
multiple shades for all occasions.

Ladies who lunch from Rio's tony Leblon
neighborhood wear them to all-important visits to the hairdresser or
even out on dates. Private school scions use them to mark the goal box
during beach soccer matches. Moneyed businessmen wear them while walking
the dog or out to a high-end 'churrascaria' barbecue.

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Would you pay $295 for a pair of flip flops? Rubber sandals get high-end makeover as Valentino collaborates with Havaianas